New Offering from Expedia

27th Mar 2002

Consumers of Expedia in the U.S. can now receive personalized travel information directly within the recently updated MSN Messenger application via an Expedia tab.

Expedia also announced support for .NET Alerts, a free opt-in service where travelers can choose to be alerted of their flight status at the time that best fits their needs, and via the device of their choice—cell phone, PC or Mac, or pager. The Expedia tab within Messenger allows consumers to view important travel information in one central location within their instant messenger application. Consumers can personalize their Expedia tab by adding Fare Tracker capabilities to view the lowest published fares on their favorite routes, and can track currently booked itineraries in the “My Trips” section. They will also see current deals on flights, lodging, vacation packages, car rentals, and cruises, and can check the status of their flights directly from the Expedia tab.

Expedia.com is the first travel site to deliver this type of travel information to customers` desktops via MSN Messenger.

In addition to the new Messenger tab, customers can now choose to receive flight status alerts from Expedia using the Microsoft .NET Alerts service. When booking a flight, customers can select both how far in advance of their flight time they wish to be alerted, and choose one or more devices where they want to receive the alert, including cell phone, PC or Mac desktop, or pager. In addition to choosing which devices will receive their .NET Alerts, customers can specify intelligent routing rules that dictate how those alerts are handled. For example, users can choose to have an instant alert, such as a delayed flight, sent to their desktop when their Messenger status is “Online” and have the same alert routed to their cell phone when their messenger status is “Away” or “Offline.” The flight status alerts service is available for any leg of a trip.